KILLSWITCH ENGAGE // JOEL STROETZEL INTERVIEW "IT FEELS LIKE A WHOLE NEW BAND BUT IT ALSO FEELS LIKE JESSE NEVER LEFT"

Killswitch Engage guitarist Joel Stroetzel recently conducted an interview with pop-break.com in which he discusses reuniting with Jesse Leach the bands original vocalists, the Massachusetts scene, touring & more.

In regards to Howard Jones departure and Jesse's return, Joel had this to say "I won't go into any of Howard's personal stuff out of respect for him. Howard was in a rut and we did a few short tours with him. Ultimately, we were like, ‘Hey, let's just take a break.' Almost two years passed and it didn't really seem like he was into going back out on the road. We talked about it and it was a friendly thing. It wasn't ‘Screw you, you're fired,' or ‘Screw you, I quit.' We talked and decided this was the way to do it. It's all good. Once Jesse found out that Howard left, he was like, ‘I don't want anyone else getting that job. I don't want anyone else getting that gig! I want it!' We were like, ‘We know you could sing your songs but you mind learning a few of Howard's?' He came and nailed it. We were in the process of trying out people at the time before we heard from Jesse. We tried out a bunch of folks and he came in and tried out against everybody. He nailed it and it was great.